


But They’re SO Cute!

by jester_complex



Series: ATLA but i got my little monster hands on it [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Let Toph Say Fuck, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Episode: s03e13 Firebending Masters, Pre-Episode: s03e14-15 The Boiling Rock, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), There is a moment where Zuko’s and Aang’s morals align, Western Air Temple, Zuko and Aang get along and sokka and Katara are confused, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, aang is such a sweetheart, and Katara short circuits, and so is zuko!, be safe babes, he's just a lil mean, if that upsets you, komodo rhino, maybe dont read this, the gaang minus suki, there is an animal in pain in this fic!, zuko is such an older bro to Aang and no one talks about it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:47:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27568510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jester_complex/pseuds/jester_complex
Summary: As hard as you try, you can not stop this pack of teenagers from adopting wild animals.Previously titled In Which the Gaang Adopts More Animals.
Relationships: Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: ATLA but i got my little monster hands on it [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015110
Comments: 12
Kudos: 282





	But They’re SO Cute!

**Author's Note:**

> i like komodo rhinos. so i made this!
> 
> this took me an embarrassing amount of time to write.
> 
> Also, CW: Animal in pain! if thats not great for you maybe skip out on this fic. nothing super graphic but i do describe a wound.

Zuko and Toph were speaking about plays they had seen in the past. Aang and Katara were passing water back and forth. Momo was...doing something, it seemed he was trying to balance a pebble on Appa's horns. It was a beautiful, peaceful moment absolutely shattered when Sokka sprinted into view.

"There's a Komodo Rhino!" He called, panting.

Katara jumped to her feet and rushed to Sokka's side, the water splashing to the ground.

"Where? Are you OK? Did it hurt you?" Katara asked worriedly.

"I'm fine but--" Sokka bent over and caught his breath. He seemed to have sprinted the whole way back. "It was crazy! Its mouth was foaming and it kept lunging at me, but it never got close to me. We need to put it down."

Zuko had walked up and listened to his explanation.

"Their mouths only foam when they're scared. Were you aggravating it?"

"Of course I wasn't!"

"Lie!" Toph called.

"It might be hurt, should we go help it?"

"Did no one hear the part where it tried to attack me?"

"They have poor eyesight, you were seen as a threat."

"Well, why wasn't it attacking me then?"

"It's practically blind, Sokka, it doesn't have great aim."

"So should we go take care of it?" Toph asked, crossing her arms.

"We can't just kill it!" Aang cried.

"We're not killing it, Aang," Zuko said flatly.

Katara was about to object when Aang loudly sighed in relief. She rolled her eyes and glared at Zuko.

"Well then what are we going to do about it? Komodo Rhinos are used by Fire Nation. We should at least check it out." Toph said. "The rhino has to be someone's."

"Did you guys see any towns when you flew over?" Zuko asked. The group--minus Toph--shook their heads.

"It might have run away?" Aang suggested.

"No matter where it came from, we need to do what's necessary. That could include putting it down, Aang." Katara said. Aang's face fell.

"We probably won't have to, Rhinos are very resilient."

"Whatever. Let's just go take care of it." Katara huffed.

+×+×+

"It was just up here--yep, here it is," Sokka whispered as he pushed aside a branch, to reveal the Komodo Rhino.

It was on the small side, and its horns were longer than they were used to. A damaged saddle sagged over to the animal's side. It was making distressed sounds as it fought with something attached to its hind leg.

As the branch snapped back as Katara stepped into the clearing, the rhino reared its head. It made a hissing sound and backed up. Katara slowly bent the water from the skin in front of her. She offered some to Aang, but he refused gently. 

Zuko slowly approached the rhino with his hands displayed in front of him. The Rhino hissed louder, seemingly getting bigger as Zuko approached it. The rest of the group watched with bated breath as the creature's mouth began to foam. 

The creature lunged at Zuko suddenly. The rest of the group was expecting some flip to dodge it, but Zuko simply stepped to the side and pushed the rhino's head away. 

"None of that," he chastised. Sokka's mouth flopped open as he lowered his sword slowly.

The rhino snapped at Zuko again, but he pushed it's head aside again. It huffed dejectedly and stopped hissing.

"What the fuck?" Toph whispered. Katara swatted her arm. "Fuck off, mom."

Zuko kept his hand on the animal's side as he made his way to its hind leg. He knelt down to examine what seemed to be a trap. Aang was right, it was hurt. Zuko set his hand lightly on the animal's leg. The trap seemed very old and was partially embedded in the ground to hold it in place. Zuko frowned.

"Aang," Zuko said flatly. "Come give me some light." 

Aang skips over before Katara can stop him. He holds his hand out, presumably to conjure a flame. He falters when he sees the wound. The metal digs into the animal's flesh, tearing at its thick skin. Blood oozes from the wound and onto the ground.

"Please just hold a light and don't throw up on me," Zuko said, looking pale. He didn't like this either. 

Aang nods and holds a shaky flame above the wound. 

The rest of the group watches tensely. 

"Is it bad?" Sokka asked nervously. As questionable as his history with Komodo Rhinos was, he was still worried about it.

Aang nodded silently, looking away from the wound to Zuko. 

"Sokka is good with traps," Aang mentioned to him quietly. "I guess Water Tribe traps are a little different, but.." Zuko nods. He motions to Sokka to come help.

After some hesitation, Sokka approaches slowly. The rhino either understood that they weren't here to hurt it, or it simply didn't care at this point, because it just huffed gloomily as Sokka passed it.

Sokka knelt down next to the animal to examine the trap. He tried very hard to ignore the gore of the wound, instead trying to block Aang's view. After a moment, he reached out to touch the trap, to understand how it shuts and opens. His finger just barely brushed the wound; Sokka jerked back. The rhino squealed in pain and jerked its leg away. The metal sliced through the flesh even more. Aang quickly stood and stumbled over to the brush. He dry heaved as Katara rushed to his side. 

The animal whined pitifully, shaking. Toph stood to the side looking troubled.

"Uh, its kinda freaking out, I think,"

"I hadn't noticed," Zuko muttered.

"Toph, come see if you can bend this trap off," Sokka said, standing.

"Its metal," Zuko said, confused. Sokka wasn't that dumb, was he?

Toph laughed and approached the trap. 

"And?" Zuko stared at her for a moment.

"Of course you can bend fucking metal. Why wouldn't you be able to bend metal." Zuko mumbled, shaking his head in exasperation.

Toph squatted next to Zuko and reached out to get a better look at the trap. She knocked on it, sending vibrations through the trap and into the animal's leg. The rhino squealed in discomfort and pain. Toph frowned.

"I can get it off, but it won't be pretty. She'll freak out a lot."

Zuko stepped back and sighed. Aang came up next to him, pointedly not looking at the animal's leg. He seemed to be doing OK now.

"What's the game plan?" Aang asked.

"Aang and I will try to keep it calm and distracted at the head, Sokka at the leg while Toph bends off the trap," Zuko said after a heavy sigh. "Is that cool with everyone?"

"Katara can heal the wound once the trap is off, Zuko," Aang helpfully interjected.

"Oh, he knows I can heal." Katara snarked.

"Quick question, how am I supposed to keep this thing 'calm' while that thing is in its leg?" Sokka asked, not at all uncomfortable.

"It's practically a scaly Appa," Zuko said as he and Aang made their way to her head.

Zuko and Aang went to pet the rhino's face while Sokka scratched the rhino's leg soothingly. It kind of was like Appa, actually. Katara readied her healing water as Toph braced herself against the earth. She counted down and on three, she knocked her thumbs into the metal, bending it to her will. She hooked her thumbs into the dents she made there and yanked the trap open. The rhino immediately started pushing and trying to yank away from Zuko and Aang. It reared its head, its longest horn smacking into Zuko's jaw, knocking him on his back. It tried to push Aang away with its horn, knocking him in the ribs.

Zuko quickly rolled out of the way of the panicking rhino. the rhino's claws crashed down where he was just sprawled. It began pushing Aang back, though he had been holding his ground surprisingly well. Aang dug his feet into the earth to brace himself against the heavy creature. He stopped sliding backward and called to Zuko.

"Are you OK?!" 

Zuko staggered to his feet just as the rhino was beginning to calm down. A quick glance showed Katara was able to get close enough to heal the gash. Once Aang was sure that the rhino wouldn't hobble off, he went to check on Zuko. He touched his jaw and winced—he was bleeding where the rhino struck him. 

"I'll be fine, I just need to clean it. Are you OK?" Zuko said, wiping his blood off on a nearby tree. "I saw it hit you in the side."

"It didn't break anything, I don't think. Just a nasty bruise." 

Toph hauled the trap out of the ground and over to Zuko.

"Is it Fire Nation?" She asked.

"I guess. I didn't really get my hands on a lot of Fire Nation traps, but I can't imagine Air Nomads using traps, let alone traps like this," Zuko asked, looking to Aang for confirmation. "It's probably old enough, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised it was even triggered."

"I'm gonna take it back to camp to practice metal bending."

"About that, what the fuck?"

+×+×+

Getting a wounded, stressed, and visually impaired animal back to their camp was very challenging. It was still very wary of them, especially Katara. It kept trying to stop to munch on vegetation on the way, but it did find food for them, so it's alright. They found some nashi, and later some ichigo and mikan. Sokka and Katara were hesitant to take the unfamiliar fruits, but Aang and Zuko assured them they were fine. 

The real challenge was convincing it to go down the tunnel Toph made. Which was understandable, really, but very frustrating. Zuko eventually managed to convince it with some of the ichigo they picked it up, as Aang, Sokka, and Katara followed behind. Sokka had gathered armfuls of grass, not for the rhino, it was just for Appa because they were not going to keep the Komodo Rhino that they were currently taking to their camp. They couldn't! Not even Aang would be able to convince him.

Once they finally got back to camp and confirmed that Appa and Momo wouldn't try to kill the rhino—no, the other way around—or walk off the edge of the platform, Zuko started up a fire. The rhino laid behind Zuko and Aang, who leaned back against it.

Katara healed up Aang's bruise and was about to sit back down when he spoke up.

"Don't forget Zuko's jaw," He interjected. Zuko and Katara stiffened and looked over to each other. Well, Zuko looked at her, Katara glared as if he asked her to heal him.

"Aang, I told you it was fine." Zuko hissed to him.

"I don't want it to get infected!" Aang said in exasperation.

"I was going to clean it!"

"You told me you already did!"

"No, Aang's right. He won't learn fire bending if you get sick from some infection cause you don't know how to take of yourself."

If it was anyone else, Zuko would have snapped at them. But it was Katara—and he valued his life, thank you very much—so he kept his mouth shut. He tilted his head so she had easier access to the wound. It was on his left side, so he didn't bother averting his eyes. 

She finished quickly, healing the broken skin and some of the bruises. She went back and sat on the other side of the fire. 

"Thank you," Zuko mumbled. 

Katara scoffed and picked up a mikan from the pile and began to wash it.

"You realize we can't keep that thing, right, Aang?" Sokka said.

"What!?" he yelled, sitting up. "We kept Momo!"

"You kept me," Toph said, crossing her legs.

"That's different!"

"Zuko already named her!" he argued. "she likes us, and she's still hurt! She isn't designed to thrive out here in a forested area! And she's so sweet-"

"Zuko named her?" Toph asked, making a curious face. Everyone looked at him.

"It's a good name, Zuko!" Aang said, nudging him.

"Her name is Kohsoom."

"That's a dumb name." Katara snarked. 

"I helped pick, Katara!" Aang said, hurt.

"Oh. What does it mean?" She directed the question at Aang, who nudged Zuko.

"It means 'lotus'," He mumbled.

"Why'd you choose that name?" 

"He likes flowers," Aang said.

"No, lotus flowers hold great symbolism in the Fire Nation," Zuko rolled his eyes.

"So it's a Fire Nation name?" Katara narrowed her eyes.

"Actually when we were brainstorming, we figured out it's also an Air Nomad name! Isn't that cool?" Aang said excitedly.

"Awesome, Aang, just awesome."

"What's the symbolism of a lotus flower?" Toph asked.

"Well, lotus flowers grow in some of the dirtiest, muddiest waters in the world. But they still grow the most beautiful flower. It's supposed to be an analogy for the human experience."

"And for the Air Nomads, it represents the purity of our minds, bodies, and speech, floating above the murky waters of material desire," Aang said.

"Poetic." Toph snickered. "It means something a little different in the Earth Kingdom. I'm not sure why, but they represent long life and honor."

Zuko groaned as Aang nudged him in the side.

**Author's Note:**

> bam! 
> 
> I did so much research for this crap it's not even funny.  
> in my head, the fire nation is Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, and Aztec, Mayan cultures just...mashed together.  
> here are the six names I chose from:  
> Nozomi- Dependable--Japanese  
> Chizue-Endurance--Japanese  
> Aahna-Survive--Hindu  
> Kohsoom-Lotus--Thai/Buhhdist  
> Necahual-Survier--Aztec  
> Lestari-Everlasting--Indonesian
> 
> Also a nashi is a variation of apples, ichigo is strawberry, mikan is a type of irange i believe
> 
> I'll try to write more of this concept maybe.
> 
> also don't ask how this fits into canon. it doesn't.
> 
> This note is getting real long but idc.
> 
> The symbolism of the lotus flower is in atla in so many ways?? Zuko came from a shit family but he is still so GOOD??! Honor?? I’m just....ugh..*chefs kiss*
> 
> check out my other stuff I love you! bye <3


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